Round vs Teardrop Implants – Choosing The Best Breast Implant Shape

Round vs teardrop implants is one of the first questions women ask when they start looking into breast augmentation, and one of the most misunderstood. Teardrop breast implants, also called anatomical or shaped implants, are often sold as the “natural” option and round breast implants as the “fake” one. The evidence does not support that split. Both shapes can give a natural result, and both can look obviously augmented if the size or profile is wrong for the chest they are placed on.

This guide compares round and teardrop implants on shape, feel, results, rotation, safety and long-term performance, using published studies rather than brochure claims. It also explains when a teardrop implant is the better choice, which is mostly a question of anatomy rather than taste. Shape is only one part of the decision: our guides to breast implant sizes, implant profile and projection and the most natural-looking breast implants cover the rest, and our breast implant options page lists every type available at Centre for Surgery.

Difference Between Round and Teardrop Implants

Breast implants come in two shapes, round and teardrop (anatomical), and the difference between round and teardrop implants comes down to where the volume sits. Seen from the side, a round implant is a symmetrical dome, the same thickness above and below its centre. A teardrop implant is thinner at the top and fuller at the bottom, the slope most people picture when they think of a natural breast. That single difference in where the volume sits drives almost everything else, from how firm the implant feels to what happens if it moves.

Round breast implants

Round implants are the most widely used shape in the UK. They add volume evenly to the upper and lower parts of the breast, which gives more fullness above the nipple and more cleavage in a bra. Most round implants use a softer cohesive silicone gel, and when you stand up, gravity lets that gel settle towards the bottom of the implant, so the breast takes on more of a slope than the implant has on a table. Round implants are symmetrical, so if one turns inside its pocket the shape of the breast does not change. They are available with a smooth or a textured surface.

Teardrop (anatomical) breast implants

Teardrop silicone implants are filled with a firmer, form-stable silicone gel that holds its shape whichever way you stand or lie. The gel is so cohesive that a cut implant keeps its form like a sweet, which is why they are nicknamed “gummy bear implants”. The shape has to stay pointing the right way up, so teardrop implants have a textured surface that lets the surrounding tissue grip the shell. They come in a much wider range of heights, widths and projections than round implants, which is why surgeons use them to solve particular anatomical problems. Comparing round vs teardrop silicone implants, both use cohesive gel; the teardrop gel is simply firmer.

Round vs teardrop implants comparison table

Do Teardrop Implants Look More Natural Than Round Implants?

This is the question behind most searches for teardrop implants vs round, or tear drop vs round implants, and it has been tested directly. In a 2017 randomised controlled trial in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery ↗, 75 women having a breast augmentation had a round implant placed in one breast and a teardrop implant of matched size in the other, and were photographed during surgery before the teardrop was swapped for a round one. Ten plastic surgeons and ten members of the public then judged the photographs without knowing which side was which. Where they saw a difference, neither group preferred the teardrop side more often than the round side, and the surgeons identified the implant shape correctly in only about a quarter of cases^[1].

A 2019 meta-analysis ↗ pooling the comparative studies of anatomical vs round implants reached the same answer: no advantage for teardrop implants in overall appearance, naturalness, upper breast contour or projection, and plastic surgeons who were asked to identify the shape were right only 52% of the time, no better than a coin toss^[2].

What this means in practice is that “natural” comes from choosing an implant that suits the tissue covering it: a size your skin can support, a profile that matches the width of your chest and enough soft-tissue cover over the top edge. A round implant chosen that way usually looks natural. A teardrop implant that is too big will not, whatever its shape. Our guide to natural vs fake boobs explains what makes a result look augmented.

Are teardrop shaped breasts desirable?

A natural teardrop breast shape, fuller below the nipple with a gentle slope above it, is the shape many women describe when they ask for a natural result, and our guide to breast shapes shows where it sits among the common types. Tear drop breasts are one of the most common natural shapes, so for many women it describes what they already have, only fuller. Whether it is the right goal is personal. Some women want visible fullness at the top of the breast and in a plunge bra; others want to look like themselves, only fuller. Both are reasonable, and both can be reached with either implant shape by adjusting size and profile.

Teardrop vs Round Implants Before and After Pictures

Teardrop vs round implants pictures and teardrop implants vs round photos are among the most searched comparisons, but before and after photos are a weak way to choose a shape. Once an implant has settled, the shape of the result depends far more on the patient’s own tissue, the implant size and profile, and whether it sits over or under the muscle than on whether it was round or teardrop, which is exactly why surgeons in the studies above could not tell them apart. When you look at teardrop breast implants before and after, anatomical implants before and after or round implants before and after, find a patient whose starting breast looks like yours and compare the side views, where projection and upper breast fullness actually show. The same caution applies to breast augmentation teardrop before and after galleries and teardrop breast implants images on social media, where lighting, posture and early swelling do much of the work.

More cases, grouped by implant volume and view, are in our breast augmentation before and after photos.

Teardrop Breast Augmentation

Teardrop breast augmentation, sometimes called a tear drop boob job, uses teardrop silicone breast implants to give a natural, gradually sloped contour rather than a fuller, rounder upper breast. The implant tapers at the top, so the augmented breast sits with less fullness below the collarbone and more fullness lower down, a look many women associate with a natural teardrop breast augmentation rather than an obviously augmented result. In the UK it is chosen most often by women with little natural breast tissue who want to avoid too much upper fullness, and by women asking specifically for a natural slope, for example a modest increase to a C cup with teardrop implants.

Breast augmentation with teardrop implants is planned more precisely than with round implants, since the implant has to sit the right way up. Your surgeon measures the height as well as the width of the breast, creates a snug pocket and chooses the implant’s height, width and projection together. Swelling settles over the first few weeks, and the final slope shows at around three months as the tissue softens around the implant; our breast augmentation recovery guide explains each stage.

Teardrop Implant Rotation: How Common Is It?

Rotation is the one problem that only teardrop implants have. If an anatomical implant turns within its pocket, the fuller lower part ends up at the side or the top, and the breast looks visibly misshapen. That is the main practical difference in round breast implants vs teardrop ones: a round implant can turn freely without any change in appearance.

Rotation is uncommon but not rare. In a Danish series of 653 women with microtextured teardrop implants, 2.6% of first-time augmentations rotated over a median follow-up of nearly three years^[3]. A single surgeon reporting more than 2,200 anatomical implants found 1.8% rotated, at an average of 15 months after surgery, and noted that careful technique keeps the rate down^[4]. A rotated implant can sometimes be turned back by hand, but it often returns, and most need a further operation to reposition or exchange it.

The factors surgeons control are a snug, precisely sized pocket, an implant matched to the breast width, and careful aftercare in the first weeks while the tissue grips the textured shell. That is part of why teardrop implants are more technically demanding to place than round ones.

Are Textured Teardrop Implants Safe? BIA-ALCL Explained

Teardrop implants rely on a textured surface, so the safety question is really about texture. Breast implant-associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL) is a rare cancer of the immune system that develops in the scar capsule around an implant, usually as late swelling of the breast many years after surgery. It is linked mainly to macrotextured surfaces, not to implant shape.

The most widely cited estimate comes from a 2018 Dutch nationwide study in JAMA Oncology ↗. Of the implants of known type in women who developed BIA-ALCL, 82% were macrotextured, far more than their share of sales. The absolute risk was small: about 29 cases per million women with implants by age 50 and 82 per million by age 70, or one case for every 6,920 women with implants by the age of 75^[5]. Some macrotextured implant ranges have since been withdrawn in Europe.

Smooth implants have not been linked with BIA-ALCL, which is one reason many surgeons now favour round smooth implants where there is no specific reason for a shaped one. Polyurethane-coated implants, a texture option on teardrop implants at Centre for Surgery, have a markedly lower rate of capsular contracture, but they are a textured surface and BIA-ALCL has been reported with them, so the trade-off is one to discuss with your surgeon. Our guides to textured vs smooth implants and breast implant safety go into more detail. Any new swelling, lump or change in size of an implanted breast should be checked.

Does Breast Implant Shape Affect Size?

Implants are measured in cubic centimetres (cc), and a 350cc round implant holds the same volume as a 350cc teardrop implant. Compare teardrop breast implants vs round ones of the same cc, though, and they can still look like different sizes. A round implant places more of its volume above the nipple, where it shows in clothes and cleavage, so it tends to look bigger. A teardrop implant puts most of its volume lower down, so the same volume can look more modest from the front.

Projection, or profile, adds a second dimension. A low-profile implant is wide and flat; high profile round breast implants are narrower and sit further forward from the chest, which can suit a narrow chest. Teardrop implants also vary in height, so a surgeon can choose a short, wide implant or a tall, narrow one for the same volume. That flexibility is useful when the breast is an unusual shape, and it is one reason anatomical implants are popular in reconstruction. For most women, though, getting the volume and profile right for the width of the chest matters more than the shape, as our guides to profile and projection and implant sizes explain.

Teardrop Breast Lift: Teardrop Implants for Sagging Breasts

A teardrop breast lift usually means using a teardrop implant to lift a mildly sagging breast without a formal lift operation. Teardrop implants are often suggested for a breast that has started to droop, a condition called breast ptosis. Ptosis is graded by where the nipple sits in relation to the fold beneath the breast. When the breast tissue has dropped but the nipple still sits at or just above the fold, adding volume to the lower half can lift the nipple and fill the empty lower pole without a lift. In the Danish series above, high-projection teardrop implants raised the nipple in 92.9% of women with this kind of glandular ptosis without a breast lift^[3].

There is a limit. Once the nipple sits below the fold or points downwards, no implant shape will correct it, and a larger implant only adds weight to stretched skin. That is when a breast lift, on its own or with an implant, is the right operation; our guide to the causes of saggy breasts explains why breasts drop and what helps.

Round or Teardrop Implants: Which Is Best for You?

Whether you choose teardrop or round implants, your surgeon will measure your chest and breast and recommend a shape, size and profile together. These are the anatomical features that usually point one way or the other:

• Round implants usually suit women with a reasonable amount of their own breast tissue, a nipple in a good position, and a wish for more fullness at the top of the breast and in a bra. They are also the simpler choice for women who are very active, since rotation is not a concern.
• Teardrop implants usually suit women with very little breast tissue over the implant, where a round implant’s upper edge may show; mild glandular sagging with an empty lower breast; a constricted lower breast, as in tuberous breast correction; a breast that needs a different shape on one side, as in breast asymmetry correction; and reconstruction after surgery for breast cancer.
• Chest wall differences such as pectus excavatum or Poland syndrome need individual planning, sometimes with a custom chest implant as well as a breast implant.
• Where the implant sits also changes the look. Placement under the muscle or fascia gives more cover over the top edge, which softens a round implant in slim women; our guide to over vs under the muscle compares the options.

For women who want a modest change without an implant at all, fat transfer to the breasts uses your own fat, and hybrid breast augmentation combines an implant with fat to soften its edges. Our comparison of breast implants vs fat transfer sets out the trade-offs.

Can You Change Your Breast Implant Shape Later?

Yes. Implants can be exchanged from round to teardrop, or teardrop to round, in a breast implant replacement operation. Women most often change shape after pregnancy, breastfeeding or weight change has altered the breast around the implant, after a teardrop implant has rotated, or simply because their preferences have changed. A change of style or size is one of the commonest reasons for a second operation: in a 10-year study of round and shaped implants, it accounted for about one in five reoperations^[7].

Switching shape usually means changing the pocket as well. A round implant sits in a larger, looser pocket than a teardrop implant needs, so moving to a teardrop may require the pocket to be tightened to stop it rotating, while moving from a textured teardrop to a smooth round implant often involves removing some or all of the old capsule. Our guide to breast implant removal vs replacement explains the choices, and the recovery guide covers what to expect afterwards.

What Happens After 10 Years of Breast Implants?

Implants are not lifetime devices, but there is no expiry date either. The long-term manufacturer studies give a realistic picture. In the 10-year study of a widely used teardrop implant, 5.7% of implants checked by MRI had ruptured, capsular contracture rose by about 1% a year, and the most common reason for removing an implant was a wish to change its size or style; satisfaction stayed high^[6]. In the 10-year study of a range of round and shaped implants, 8.6% of women had a rupture, and 31.5% had had at least one further operation over the decade, more than half of them for cosmetic reasons^[7].

The shape of the implant itself does not change over time, but the breast around it does. Our guide to how long breast implants last covers the timescales, and the guides to implant rupture and capsular contracture explain the symptoms to look out for.

What Implants Does Centre for Surgery Use?

At Centre for Surgery we use Silimed implants, chosen for their low capsular contracture rates and their BioDesign sizing, which matches implant dimensions to your chest measurements across both round and anatomical shapes. Silimed implants are CE-marked and backed by a Silimed replacement guarantee (rupture from a manufacturing defect, and grade III–IV contracture with textured or polyurethane implants after a first augmentation). Both round and teardrop implants are available in a full range of profiles, surfaces and placements, so the recommendation you get is built around your anatomy rather than a default. Mentor and Motiva implants remain available for patients with a specific brand preference, and our comparison of the best breast implants in the UK covers all three brands.

Frequently Asked Questions

Breast Augmentation in London

Breast augmentation at Centre for Surgery is performed by GMC-registered plastic surgeons under TIVA at our private hospital on Baker Street, Marylebone, rated “Good” by the Care Quality Commission. At your consultation your surgeon measures your chest and breast, lets you try implant sizers, and explains whether a round or teardrop implant, or neither, best suits your anatomy and goals. We recommend a two-week cooling-off period after every consultation. Read more about our breast augmentation surgery, or see our breast augmentation recovery guide.

Phone: 020 7993 4849 | Address: 95–97 Baker Street, Marylebone, London W1U 6RN
Contact us to book a consultation

References

1. Hidalgo DA, Weinstein AL. Intraoperative comparison of anatomical versus round implants in breast augmentation: a randomized controlled trial. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2017;139(3):587–596. doi:10.1097/PRS.0000000000003114 ↗
2. Cheng F, Cen Y, Liu C, Liu R, Pan C, Dai S. Round versus anatomical implants in primary cosmetic breast augmentation: a meta-analysis and systematic review. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2019;143(3):711–721. doi:10.1097/PRS.0000000000005371 ↗
3. Weltz TK, Larsen A, Hemmingsen MN, et al. Breast augmentation with microtextured anatomical implants in 653 women: indications and risk of rotation. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2021;147(6):940e–947e. doi:10.1097/PRS.0000000000007991 ↗
4. Montemurro P, Pellegatta I, Cheema M. Rotation of anatomical implants: a single surgeon’s experience of over 1500 patients. Aesthetic Plast Surg. 2025;49(18):5178–5185. doi:10.1007/s00266-025-04897-7 ↗
5. de Boer M, van Leeuwen FE, Hauptmann M, et al. Breast implants and the risk of anaplastic large-cell lymphoma in the breast. JAMA Oncol. 2018;4(3):335–341. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2017.4510 ↗
6. Maxwell GP, Van Natta BW, Bengtson BP, Murphy DK. Ten-year results from the Natrelle 410 anatomical form-stable silicone breast implant core study. Aesthet Surg J. 2015;35(2):145–155. doi:10.1093/asj/sju084 ↗
7. Stevens WG, Calobrace MB, Alizadeh K, Zeidler KR, Harrington JL, d’Incelli RC. Ten-year core study data for Sientra’s Food and Drug Administration-approved round and shaped breast implants with cohesive silicone gel. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2018;141(4S):7S–19S. doi:10.1097/PRS.0000000000004350 ↗